Galway Titans host Templeogue in a crucial outing at Ballinfoyle Community Centre this Saturday evening.
Titans must win their final two home games against Templeogue and Tipp Talons at Ballinfoyle to guarantee their play-off status. They secured an important, hard fought win against a resilient Malahide side last time out.
In a low scoring opening quarter, Malahide held Titans to 16 points but only managed 7 points of their own. It was memorable only for a Joe Coughlan three-pointer and Umar Rashid and Declan Gbinigie finishing in the mod range.
The second quarter saw an increase in tempo, with Nathan Gbinigie, D Gibinige, Rashid and Ben Powell turning defensive rebounds into fast break opportunities for Matthew Sweeney, Coughlan and Ben Kelly in the transition. Titans outscored their hosts 33 to 20 to lead 49-27 at half-time.
Malahide, however, outscored Titans by 15 points in the third to bring them to within a point with eight minutes to play. The Titans big scorers, Rashid (28 ) D Gbinigie (17 ), Coughlan (13 ), Kelly and Sweeney (9 ), fired their side to victory with crucial scores down the stretch.
Titans' efficiency from free-throws was a decisive factor, converting 26 of 31 on the night. Despite only leading by a point with one minute to play, the Titans ran out 89-80 victors to set up a massive final two home fixtures.
Tip-off on Saturday evening is 7pm. With Basketball Ireland’s Men’s Division 1 playoff race reaching its thrilling conclusion, Titans are calling on the city to get behind them. With just two critical games remaining, every cheer and show of support could make all the difference.
